Bellua
by timahina
Summary: And he was to remain a beast for all time; One mistake and a broken taboo later, Zarc found himself punished as a monster to repent for his crimes. With nothing but his mostly loyal servants to surround himself, finding a remedy was next to impossible. "You're my prisoner, Ray. And you will act like it."
1. Chapter 1

"Ladies and gentlemen! For this day, I will perform amazing feats the likes of which you'd have never beheld!"

The party cheered and Zarc could only grin, relishing in the attention he received. There were a multitude of reasons to constantly look forward to his birthday. The adoration, the lavish gifts, people practically throwing themselves at his feet more so than any other day of the year. But most importantly, it was the one day of the year he could truly do as he pleased. And the one thing he desired most was entertainment. Be it giving or receiving, he relished in it.

Each year, friends and acquaintances of neighboring lands would come for a special event. Always, Zarc required the highest degree of entertainment and on his birthday, he allowed for a role reversal where instead _he_ was the performance. He gave the people what they wanted – dazzling tricks and dangerous feats, everything within the imagination and beyond.

A former tutor begged him to jump from a waterfall. Zarc could only gladly fulfill his wish and up the factor by jumping backwards. An admirer whom he rejected asked for a kiss on the hand but instead, granted her one on the lips – only muttering afterwards that once again, he was not for sale. A jealous noble wanted to best him in a race and Zarc taunted him by blinding himself and winning only by a hare.

All such acts had become flashier over the years – his friends and admirers and subjects looked forward to the yearly spectacle.

"Who has such a _challenge_ for me?"

It was nearly sunset. He was tired, growing weary of the dares and epic feats. Passing out on his bed tonight was to feel _amazing_. But one more… if he could push himself for one more feat and truly blow their minds.

Just one more. One more moment of glory and cheer, for the eyes and attention to be on him before the spotlight was gone.

"I have a challenge for you!" A voice from the crowd called out and Zarc perked up. It better be good – he wasn't sure if he ever seen this man before. "Go into the forest and bring back the head of the famed golden hippo."

The crowd gasped and for the first time, fell silent. Even Zarc had looked shocked, offended – how could he accept? Not only was that the most difficult animal to capture, let alone _kill_ \- it was unspoken rule that breaking hunting season was dangerous. The consequences were never said, never given but Zarc knew the risks. He could hear the spirits who served him screaming at him to reject this. It wasn't worth it.

But all he could think was the praise, the fame…

"I'll do it."

* * *

 _How foolish_.

Zarc was blind.

So utterly and completely blind.

The hours he spent hunting that creature down before finding it grazing and resting against a lake. The time it took to jump atop one of his dragons and glide over to it. The hippo escaped him once, twice. Each time it had, the light grew dimmer in the forest. His heart constricted. Tiny pricks annoying his skin. He heard them, over and over again – _stop_.

Turn _back_.

 _It's not worth it_.

But he ignored them. He knew better. Of course, he did. The praise was worth whatever punishment that was to fall.

At last, he found the hippo. His eyes were focused, his grip on his sword tighter than ever. The next few moments as he jumped from the tree down to the hippo was almost a blur. But he knew, he could feel his arms flex and his muscle convulse as he struck his sword down, spearing the head of the creature.

His breathing labored as the loud, ungodly screeched echoed for a few moments before he was left in silence with blood on his arms and legs.

He… he did it!

A laugh… a nervous chuckle as he slowly took out the sword. An amazing feeling and yet, no one had watched. No one except the hippo and the spirits looming around – no, there were none. They were gone. Why were they…

He couldn't hear them. Why did…

A loud ringing – no, not ringing, screaming. It was the hippo squealing and screaming betrayal. But he had…!

" _ **How dare you!?**_ "

His heart raced as the hippo rose back up, its form blinding in shimmering light before transforming to that of a woman clad in robes. A large bow in her hands, her grip tight. Her eye – the only one he could see, was staring with fire and hatred toward him.

Zarc sank down to his knees, realizing what he had done wrong. "I… Mistress Xiangsheng, I hadn't known that you were…" It was coming to mind, the clues coming together. Why the light vanished and pains in his body had increased and why the spirits were gone.

She caused it. She was warning him. Back off, they told him repeatedly.

He knew now.

" _ **Shut up!**_ "

It was an unspoken rule to never hunt outside the season.

"Please, it was a mistake! I was challenged and-" Zarc wasn't given the chance to explain further. Flames appeared in a ring around them and she stood, raising her bow and an arrow manifested in her grip. Before he had the chance to blink, she shot the arrow and pierced his heart.

And yet, he wasn't bleeding. There was no blood but rather… his chest was ablaze and sharp pains, almost like daggers were shooting from his spine. He screamed, hot tears flowing down his cheeks as something… something was coming _out_ of him, the pain unbearable.

" _ **You wish to hunt beasts?**_ "

"No!" He screamed again, collapsing as his bones tore out of his skin, muscles tore, "No, I never – _ah_!" A last horrified scream as his hand dug into the earth, his eyes bulging as the muscles and bones tore and engorged and… his hands were large now, claws – there were not his. No, it wasn't…!

Zarc ran forward, his feet large and claws – _claws_ ripped up the dirt as he ran to the lake. He needed to see himself, to confirm that he was indeed…

" _ **You want attention so bad? You wish for eyes to be on you? Then have at it – your selfish desires are all you shall see!**_ " The woman vanished in that moment as he saw his refection in the water. He couldn't recognize himself.

No… it wasn't him. He couldn't have been… the claws, the wings, the cracks and scales along his skin… Zarc was newly made.

The unspoken rule.

To hunt the beasts - _monsters,_ was to become one.


	2. Chapter 2

She took a deep breath as she stared at the door. It was just going to be a simple outing. Just go out, get some sun, maybe some lunch, and pick up some new replacement tools for her father. It was simple enough. Ray just needed to… open the door and leave. But in of itself was a problem. That meant the outside and all the problems that came along with it. She sighed.

"I might as well get it over with…" She muttered under her breath and twisted the doorknob to go to the outside.

" _Morning, Ray!_ "

She smiled and waved before realizing that it wasn't a neighbor of hers coming out to greet her but instead a ball of light manifesting itself into form. _Damn it_. It was a spirit. And the day was to be a long one.

More arrived, greeting her and complimenting her and asking what she was to do with her day. The constant barrage of questions wasn't the worst but… but it was the looks. The odd stares as though people walking about in town were waiting for her to do something, say something. Like they were waiting for a performance.

"I'm just going to market…" She spoke softly, trying not to gather attention. It wasn't working. Ray could already feel the stares and hear the whispers.

 _She's doing it again_ , they muttered. The gossip again running through the morning. It was always an awkward struggle to try and pretend not to know what they said or thought as to go about her day in peace. Though by now, after so many years she had hoped they would find something new to gossip about. Someone new to torment. Anything different to focus their attention on.

Ray stopped in place. This was getting irritating.

"Yes! I am talking aloud! Does _anyone_ want to say _anything_ already?!" The people on the street turned away immediately, their heads averting and doing their best not to cross paths with her. It would seem her being blunt had saved the day. At least for the time being until they all gathered the courage to stare and observe once more.

" _There's nothing to be ashamed of, Ray. We know you're talking to us…_ "

She scoffed.

It wasn't… the greatest feeling to hear and see spirits. A rude awakening when she discovered that she was the only one in the village who could and that was the root of why she was so ostracized. Well, mostly. But she had accepted it. It was her fate and if by now she hadn't learned how to deal with such unwanted attention, there was no way to survive.

First destination: tools for her father. He had been up all night, excited about his latest breakthrough but alas, one could only get so far without the proper tools and she thought it would be nice to update some of his older models rather than having him constantly improvise. " _We could steal it for you._ "

"I'd rather just buy it. They'd never believe spirits stole it anyways." The spirits surrounding her shrugged and went off elsewhere, deciding to leave for the time being. Right now, she needed to think and balance her budget and think about how quickly she could leave the store. Perhaps he wasn't there today. Maybe she would have some peace. With her hopes set at a reasonable level, Ray entered the shop and immediately wanted to run out as a shorter boy ran right into her.

"Ray! _Hey_ , fancy meeting you here!" He flipped his bangs, flashing her a charming smile. She wanted to gag. It was the same process almost every day and by now, her patience was already limited.

"Sawatari, I'm not in the mood."

"I haven't even said anything yet."

She walked past him, her eyes and mind focused on the task at hand. It was… most definitely a trying effort to try and ignore the boy vying for her attention. Each time she had ignored him, he had only grown more persistent. Ray wondered how any human being could possibly be so dense… or blind, for that matter. "Oh hey, so we're all having a party later at the lodge to celebrate me winning the summer hunting spree." She nodded, muttering small acknowledgments as she continued her goal of finding sizeable tools. "So I thought I'd do you the honor of being my date."

In that moment, Ray could feel her mind float away back to her bedroom and crawl right under the covers, warm and protected as she was earlier in the morning. But no, instead she was in a small shop hardly able to focus because the village brat had not taken her minimal eye contact as a hint. "What?" She had yet to process exactly what he asked.

"Be my date."

"… I'm busy tonight, helping my dad and all." She shook the tools in her hand.

Sawatari hardly suppressed his chuckle. "Oh, come on Ray. Hasn't he done enough damage to your social life? Surely you can free yourself for a night."

Her free hand tensed into a fist and her lip furled. It was intolerable on every level to have to hear such defamation of her father's character from someone who was trying to gain her approval all at the same time. It baffled and confused her, angered her on every possible turn. Her mind had gone blank as she brushed past him none too gently. All she could think of was how she had wished she had taken up the offer of the spirits to steal the tools to avoid such an encounter. "As I said," Ray slammed the tools on the counter with a loud clank, "I'm busy. And don't talk about my dad like that."

"Not like it's a lie – Leo Akaba's not exactly known for being the most stable-"

"Bad-mouthing my dad is not going to make me want to date you, talk to you, look at you, or even want to be in the same room as you. Just shut up, Sawatari!" Ray slammed her money down and took the tools, not bothering to wait for the shopkeeper to give her change back or anything.

It was exasperating – trying to suppress angry tears from falling or the urge to become violent with the next person that eyed her funny or whispered around her. Going outside was a daily, tiresome trial on her nerves and it hadn't taken much today to set her off. She had gotten what she wanted and if accomplishing one goal was good enough for the day, then she would call it a success. Ray didn't want to turn around and see if Sawatari had followed her or to see if others were trying to be discreet in watching her. She just wanted to go home.

" _Ray, are you ok?_ "

"No."

She didn't bother trying to whisper this time.

The walk home was quieter as she left town. Making her way to the outskirts where the houses lay. Most people in the village, if they weren't bustling their way through town then most likely they were holed up in their homes and the chance of bothering her went down to near zero. The days had always gone like that. Ray would go out, having goals for the day that involved enjoying and keeping to herself but someone or something, some inevitable had always played in and forced her to go back home.

There was one thing that was always true – for every negative reaction, a positive force would come and balance the turmoil.

"Oh, you're back already?"

She smiled as she closed the door behind her, seeing her father sitting on the couch and trying to multitask between eating an apple and fixing a radiator. It wasn't working well as the apple was hardly eaten and being held together in his mouth as he was elbow deep in grease.

"Yea, town was pretty annoying." She settled next to him, laying her head against his shoulder and just watched him work. She didn't know how it was possible but even as he muttered a string of curses from the reactor not going as he wanted – she felt relaxed and better than before. "Hey, how's your invention coming along?"

"Alright. You know… I'm not forcing you to stay here and watch. You can go and talk to your friends. Just be back in before dark."

Ray snorted. "That would require someone liking me in this godforsaken town."

"Oh? What about that Sawatari kid?"

"He's an idiot."

"… you're right, I shouldn't have mentioned him." Leo chuckled as he turned the bolt tightly once more and removed his hands from the controls, giving himself a short break from his work. "Well, did you do anything fun?"

Ray nodded and pushed herself up, reaching into her bag for the items purchased before. Her one accomplishment of the day she was legitimately proud of. "I got you something." Leo raised a brow and simply stared as she handed him a bag. "Happy… Tuesday."

Leo took the bag and reached inside, pulling out the tools. Shiny, new, never used and all his to soil during grease and tight grips as he worked on his contraptions. He smiled softly and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her hair and wrapping his arm around her shoulder – holding her close to him. "Thank you, Ray. And don't worry, this isn't forever." A friendly smile from her father always cheered her up. She was reassured that during annoying days, living in a town she hated… she had him. And he had her. Admittedly, she wished she had his nonchalant reaction towards their current situation. It wasn't desolate, just… lonely.

"Hey, dad? We're not… staying here forever, right? I mean... it'd be nice if after you finish this invention, we could leave to a city." Be around people who were progressive and open-minded to the possibilities of the unknown instead of backwards country folks who still paraded around with their small-town gossip and fishbowl view of the world. But she wouldn't say so aloud, finding no point to do so and complain. It was better to phrase it as a suggestion.

He shrugged, rubbing her shoulder with his hand already settled there. "We'll find out soon, love. Maybe when I get investors, we can find something bigger _elsewhere_. And who knows? You can even find people who like you." She pouted, blushing slightly at his sarcastic comment. But still… he knew her worries, she never needed to voice them. For one thing she was glad for, her father was more optimistic than she could be – so sure he would find investors, someone to believe in his work. Such hope could make her smile. "And speaking of investors, I actually am meeting some in a few days. Which means…." Ray grimaced – he was to leave her again.

"So I gotta pack you a lunch or two?"

"And if it could be chicken this time around, I promise to bring you back a gift as well."

"You don't need to…"

"I _want_ to – I'm entitled to spoil my daughter every now and then."

Ray shook her head, her previous sour mood dissipated with every passing moment. She stood up, her hands on her hips as she leaned forward. "I'd rather you come back safe and sound. But fine, if you insist…" He always brought home such nice gifts.

And she could always ask spirits who roamed the village to follow after him, to ease her worries. Her father was to leave in the morning and she was to stay, pacing back and forth and praying the investors were interested. That they hadn't questioned his sanity. That most of all, he would be _safe_.


End file.
